The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1887-12-30
Con ~ Wara

ApCol OF Wire.
How are cakes or Jumps OF steel
made irto fine wirep The process ii
interesting. How do the steel blooms
become finely nolished rairag TAaamaa-
ufacture is peculiar. The bloom, as
we follow it in the wire factory, is first
cut into billets some twenty inches long
and four inches square. These are
brought red hot from the furnaces and
slipped between the rolls. In a mo-
ment the billet of steel becomes a stout,
hbery serpent. A man at the opposite
side OF the furnace nips ii areaaG the
neck with the tongs. and slips It's head
between the next and smaller pair of
rolls, SO that before the tail of the red
serpent has emerged from between the
larger rolls, the head has been squeez-
ed to smaller dimensions in the second
roiis. Inc same process is repeated
again after the rod has passed through
the second roll, ~weskinen being ready
to seize the serpent twist his body
around and let his head be caught by
the third roll, Thus it Is passed on, each
time becoming longer and thinner,
and the billet, after passing through
eighteen rolls. becomes a wire rod. AS
the rod passes through the last roll it
is conveyed through a pipe three inches
in circumference. AS it wriggles out of
the pipe in twisted form it is thrown
across the iron floor Of the factory or
wire mill. The rolls are kept constant
ly at work, for one rod has no sooner
passed through the first roll than
another enters il, and as the rod grows
in length one end may be passing out
across the floor while the other is half
a dozen rolls in the rear. Thus it
twists its dull-red. thread-like length
like a serpent in and out of the rolls,
often near the ankles of the workmen,
ready with their tongs to guide it on
ward in its devious windings. When
the rod is al last spun out upon the
floor the end is taken up and twisted
upon a reel, which rapidly winds it in
to a coil.
After the rods leave the ''blooming
mill they are taken to the wire MILL, =
where they are hung around wooden
blocks, perhaps half a dozen coils on
each block, which are lowered into
huge tubs of sulphuric acid. and al
lowed to remain there until the acid
has removed the impurities from the
surface. The blocks are then raised
by a pulley. and the rods are thrown
upon the floor and washed with the
hose. Having been loaded on trucks
and dried, one end Of each rod is point
ed by a revolving machine SO as to
psss nte he die which is TO draw the
rods into wire. Having been removed
to the wire blocks, the rods are then
drawn by being passed through a tap.
ering hole in a steel die.
The steel rod, having thus been
transformed into wire. is taken to the
~annealing furnace, where it is anneal.
ed and polished by a secret process. The
wire, which has hitherto been Of a dull
brown color, is given a bright polish
by the a~nnealing and the cleaning
which it afterward receives. Having
been removed to the galvanizing house,
the wire IS run over a series Of wheels
and slides which stretch it from the
floor horizontally, and, working au-
tomatieally. dips the wire in lime every
time it reaches the floor. In galvaniz-
ing, the process consisting Of the wire
passing through q solution Of muriatiC
acid and gravel, next through q drying
furnace. and afterward through 4
metal bath Of zinc. The wire nexi
passes ai"wiping box filed with min
eral wool, which is agitated by a mum.
Der 81 rollers. This substance wipes
off the surplus zinc, and bestows upon
the wire a smooth surface. The long
line Of wire, which now has a bright,
silyery appearance, is then bundled up
in reels ready for the market. each reel
weighing about 100 pounds. -Pttsburg
cor. Wheeling Register.